On 10th of November 2021, the OPG confirmed that Attorneys and Deputies are finally entitled to see a Donor’s medical records. This will help our clients who have been accused of not acting in their family member’s best interests. This is welcome news.
At Steene Law we specialise in acting for people who have been sent long letters by the Office of the Public Guardian, alleging they are not acting in the Donor’s best interests and giving them a too short a time to justify their actions.
One of the advantages the Office Of The Public Guardian have had, is that under The Lasting Powers of Attorney, Enduring Powers of Attorney and Public Guardian Regulations 2007, the OPG are entitled to obtain copies of a person’s medical records, without the Donor’s or Attorney’s knowledge or consent.
We, on the other hand, could not until now, get these records unless the Donor had made a Health and Welfare LPA. Even if they had, GP’s and their staff were not in a hurry to co-operate. For whatever reason, we saw that GP’s sent medical records to the OPG, almost by return of port. In contrast, we, who were acting for the person on the receiving end of all sorts of allegations, had to fight tooth and nail to get what are often key documents in helping the Attorney show they were acting in the Donor’s best interests.
At Steene Law, one of the essential cornerstones in winning cases for our OPG investigation cases for our clients is getting the medical records to evidence the Donor’s physical and mental state.
GPs often flatly refuse and say they will only give them (albeit reluctantly) to Health & Welfare Attorneys and Deputies.
On 10th November 2021 the Office of the Public Guardian published some welcome guidance.
The new guidance says that anyone holding a Lasting Power of Attorney for Property & Financial Affairs or Health & Welfare, or who is a Deputy, should be able to access the medical records of the Donor to enable them to make Best Interests decisions on behalf of the Donor.
What that means in practical terms is that where the Attorney is being challenged and we need to show that the actions of the Attorney are in the Best Interests of the Donor, we can now insist on these medical records being sent “in a timely manner”. To us that means send then in the same timescale you sent them to the OPG, not in three months’ time.
Why does it matter? In one case the Donor, who was an elderly lady, had bought multiple iPads, iPhones and other high end electrical items. She was 96 and bedbound. Her Attorney was accused of using his grandmother’s money to buy his family these Apple devices. The OPG visitor who turned up was of the opinion that the Donor lacked mental capacity. We (eventually) got the medical records, saw that there had been a recent dementia test carried out by the GP, which noted the lady having no memory problems.
As a result of these records, we demonstrated, with other documents, that a 96 year old lady is free to do as she wishes with her money. If we had been denied access to the medical records, proving our case would have been more difficult.
Getting medical records has been nigh on impossible and it taken months and with the pandemic, sometimes our clients have been severely prejudiced, as the Office of the Public Guardian have made all sorts of threats when we cannot answer them, because we do not have the medical records.
This did put our clients who were under investigation at a severe disadvantage.
Excuses such as a there is no Health & Welfare LPA in existence, or the usual “data protection” have been swept aside in the new guidance.
This is good news.
If you find you are being investigated by the Office of the Public Guardian, mentioning unlawful gifting, an Attorney not acting in the Best Interests of the Donor, or some other alleged act, then please call Steene Law for a free chat.
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Please give us a call for a free chat on 0203 653 0623, email reception@steenelaw.co.uk or complete a Free Online Enquiry and we will be delighted to help you.
“I became aware that David and Dianne Steene at Steene Law Ltd were experts in Office of Public Guardian (OPG) investigations. They guided me through a complex process to a completely successful outcome and it is clear that both David and Dianne not only have a depth and breadth of understanding in mental capacity law/Office of the Public Guardian/Court of Protection but also they are prepared to go that extra mile”
GC
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